


Misunderstanding and Insecurities

by Groot_the_tree



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Comfort, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Stephen Strange, Insecure Tony Stark, Insecurity, Light Angst, M/M, Panic Attacks, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Groot_the_tree/pseuds/Groot_the_tree
Summary: Stephen witnesses Tony have an anxiety attack while on a date. And then he decides to be an insecure idiot about it, Stephen is trying to comfort him.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 3
Kudos: 117





	Misunderstanding and Insecurities

**Author's Note:**

> I've been watching Iron Man 3 and the scene where Tony has an anxiety attack was stuck in my head so I wondered what would happen if Stephen saw that happen?

“Tony? Tony, come on.” Stephen says, walking out behind him as the other man pushes his way through the crowd, trying to get out of the building, uncoordinatedly. 

Stephen sighs, why did he even think the other man would listen? Of course, he wouldn’t, he never does. If he was reading the sighs correctly then he was sure the other was having an anxiety attack which was…strange, considering what he knew about the other man. 

It only has been a couple of weeks of them really getting to know each other, though, this being their third date and it would seem they have already established a pattern of not turning out as planned. 

Not that Stephen minds that, they’re not going bad, just different. Tony, however, seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed with them not sticking to what he had completely planned out. 

And right now that was why Tony was trying to make his way out of the restaurant, Stephen was sure of it. What he wasn’t sure of was what was causing him to panic like he seems to be. 

He stays close behind the man holding his chest and walking out of the restaurant until they were in an alley and Tony dared to stop, or had to, it wasn’t too clear anymore. 

“You’re going to be okay,” Stephen says, stopping in front of him. 

Tony looks at him for a fraction of a second before dropping his eyes, clearly not wanting the other man to see him like this, much less wanting him to be looming over him, leaving Tony in his shadow. 

“Breath with me,” Stephen says, not noticing or, more likely, not caring that the other is annoyed by this. There are things more important than the ego of Tony Stark.

Stephen takes Tony’s hand in his shaky one and holds it over his own chest, letting him feel the beating of his heart and the steady breaths he is taking. 

“It’s just us, Tony. Breath. You’re doing well.” Stephen was doing what he could to keep the words from sounding patronizing, knowing Tony that would only make the situation worse. 

It takes a few minutes, Stephen doesn’t mind but Tony thinks they stretch on forever before he’s able to breathe even close to normal. He looks up slowly to Stephen, not meeting his eyes, “I’m leaving.” He states before calling the suit and seconds later is out of Stephens sight. 

The sorcerer stands for a moment, looking in the direction the other hand just left. He wastes no time opening a portal and stepping out inside the tower. Looking at Tony as he lands. There is no way he’s just going to get out of this that easily. 

Tony walks in, the suit coming off as he does. Seeing the obvious wizard in the room, he tries to slip by and make his way to his bedroom. It doesn’t work though, the wizard with his powers notices him. 

“We need to talk about this Tony.” He states.

“What is there to talk about, Strange? I had an anxiety attack in a restaurant.” 

“That’s what we have to talk about. It’s not like you, Tony. I’m just worried-“

“Well don’t be!” Tony practically yells. “Just don’t worry about it, Strange. It happens. We don’t need to talk about it. It just needs to be ignored.” He turns, trying once again to leave only for the other man to take him by the arms and stop him.

“This has happened before?” He asks, moving close to Tony, his arms wrapping around him and keeping him where he is.

With a sigh, Tony relaxes back into the hold, giving in. What’s the point in fighting it? Now Stephen knows. He knows that Tony isn’t as strong as he had once thought and he would leave. Of course, he would. No one wants to stay around the broken has-been. Especially not the sorcerer supreme. Tony has known that since the beginning, he just wished it would have lasted longer than three dates. 

He felt bad tricking the other man but as always, he was just being selfish and doing this for his own personal gain. Isn’t that what everyone thinks? He’s been told that more than he cares to think about but now Strange is going to think it too and he’s not sure he’ll be able to survive hearing those words from him. 

He just nods in response, slowly, eyes closed. He leans up off the other, prepared for him to walk away but he doesn’t. So Tony does, finally making his way to his bedroom where he’s been trying to go since this started. 

It takes Stephen a moment, confused. Why does Tony keep leaving? Is he trying to get him to leave? Wouldn’t the other just tell him if he was? Tony wasn’t always the most subtle person, everyone knew that. 

Maybe Stephen was supposed to follow? He’s heard of Stark taking people to bed with him, a lot of them actually, but this didn’t seem like the time for that. 

“Perhaps you should go check on Mr. Stark, Doctor.” FRIDAY's voice comes out, shocking Stephen out of his thoughts, “He seems to be in distress.” 

Stephen nods and makes his way back to there the other man had gone and find his room with the help of FRIDAY telling his which one it was. 

“Tony, can I come in?” Stephen asks, softly, giving the door a tap with his boot. His hands were shaking too much for him to trust using them right now so they were safely hidden from view behind his back. 

Tony sighs and nods, then, realizing the man can’t see him, calls out, “It’s unlocked.” 

Stephen walks in, seeing Tony on the bed, laying on his back, still fully dressed minus his shoes. Slowly, he sits up. 

“What do you want, Dumbledore?” He asks, looking tired.

“FRIDAY said you were in distress and I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to leave or stay.” He responds, walking closer to the bed, still a little unsure of what he was doing. 

“I expected you to leave.”

“Oh,” Stephen says, looking around as though trying to find an excuse not to leave. He doesn’t. “If that’s why you’d like, then I’ll just go then.” He turns and starts back out the door. 

“No!” Tony says, quickly, reaching out before realizing what he had just done and dropping his hand. It was efficient though, he doesn’t reach the door. “I mean…That wasn’t what I wanted you to do, leaving. It was just what I had expected you to do after learning…about that.” 

Stephen turns to look at him, “Why would you expect me to leave after that?” He asks, not moving towards the door but not going back over to Tony either. 

“I just…” He sighs, “I never was good at this whole feelings and emotion part. Any chance we can skip it?” He asks, hopeful but knowing it wasn’t going to happen and Stephen confirms it by shaking his head. 

“Alright then…” He takes a breath. “What about starting with the part that I’m not the strong person everyone thinks I am. I can’t take everything the world throws at me and come out without a scar.” He states, voice growing in volume “I can’t. Everyone expects it but it isn’t possible. This has been happening since New York. It keeps happening. I can’t sleep. I have the most unhealthy habits and did have more. I’m self-destructive and destructive in general.” He stops for a breath, calming a little, “I’m broken, Stephen. I didn’t want you to know that. I’m not the hero who always comes out on top as people think. I’m selfish and I did this because it was something I wanted, even knowing it would end like this, wasting your time.” By the end, his sounds and looks defeated, sitting back on the bed as he and the other man look at each other. 

After a second, Stephen nods, laughing a little. 

“This is funny to you?” Tony asks, angrily. 

“A little, I must admit.” Comes the response, “Tony, I protect time, the universe. You’re not the only hero, if that’s what you’d like to call it, here.” He walks over and sits down next to him, a shaking hand finding a smaller one, hopefully before the shaking is noticed. 

“I have lived and I have died Tony. Over and over. I’ve seen the past, the present, and the future. I know more ways that life can go on than you can imagine. I know the dark and twisted paths it could have taken if you weren’t there.” He says, quietly, calmly. “I may not have been there when you started this, I know I started later as well. But I do know the kinds of things we are up against and if those things didn’t have some effect on you I would be more worried than I am hearing that they do.

“When I saw you having that anxiety attack earlier I wasn’t mad at you for lying or annoyed that it was happening. I just wanted to get you somewhere safe and make sure you were okay. If you had stopped long enough I would have brought us here. I wasn’t trying to get you to stop because you were leaving, I wanted to help you leave.” 

Listening to what Stephen was saying, Tony was finding it more and more difficult to breathe. He had thought he was going to have another anxiety attack until he felt a hand carefully wiping his wet face and realized he was crying. 

“Thank you, Stephen.” He whispers, looking down at the hand in his, then up to the man next to him. Slowly, he leans in and presses his lips to Stephen. 

Stephen was learning that, while most of the rumors about Tony Stark were false, there were some, he was about to learn, that was true. Very true.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are nice.   
> Constructive criticism is sometimes welcome.


End file.
